Chapter 9 - broadcast

The room loaded slowly, popping up unnaturally all over the page. Right away the messaging box from Crossroads appeared in the bottom right hand corner. In the center of the page the image began to display, but in momentary gasps, dark and dim at first as the page around it continued to load. Jess was no longer sure that this was not simply for some sort of dramatic effect. Obviously they had the power, to view Sammy at any given moment, making it appear like an actual video feed was no doubt something that the Crossroads simply enjoyed doing. A facade they preferred to stand behind.

At the bottom of the screen a chat room loaded, and now, as had happened every time Jess logged on, a steady stream of messages populated the box. Jess was not sure if these people, (she was not even sure they were people) could see Sammy all the time, if they paid for the privileged, or if they could only see her when she was online watching. There were many different languages in the box below, many unique and somewhat unsettling names, but the conversations swirled around the same topics. They guessed at her weight, apparently unable to read the numbers printed right on the shirt, and Jess assumed they saw whatever outfit Sammy imagined she put on, or however the Crossroads charm worked. They spoke of her in terms of how delicious she looked, how tasty she would be in time. They requested weight be gained in specific places, and offered exorbitant sums to own such a sinfully growing girl.

Jess had learned to ignore this box as best she could. Her eye was commonly drawn to the motion of the chat room but she tried her very best never to read any of the unsettling words that streamed across it.

At the left of the page, and framing the image of her sister that appeared above it, were several buttons that Jess could press if she so chose to direct the next pound to a specific place. On several occasions Jess had felt bad for Sammy and had dedicated to the next several pounds making sure the girl was evening out, and keeping the weight away from her angelic face. But the crossroads had a way of evening things out, and if Jess did not log on and choose The chest or the bum, the pounds would pile onto Sammy face and such weight had started to take its tole. Sammy had begun to grow large soft chipmunk style cheeks, bigger than they would have been had she gained the weight slowly and over time.

On the screen now, which had fully loaded and was following behind Sammy, Jess could see her sister was at the mall, walking along with a few friends, laughing and commenting on groups of men they passed as she headed into a clothing store. To Jess Sammy wasn't wearing much more than over tight gym shorts and her fated shirt. Her weight had made her quite round, and through the curse of the crossroads, the weight remained soft and orb like, not yet giving in to gravity, becoming saggy or turning to rolls. The skin bounced in front and behind her, her thighs beginning to seriously rub as the exposed skin touched half way down to her knees.

Interestingly enough, the girls around Sammy did not notice the weight, or at least not in full. They made a comment or two about Sammy getting a bit plump, or rounding out, even a compliment on her new rack or they way her ass attracted so much attention now. Like everyone Jess had spoken to, it was apparent that Sammy had gained weight, they were aware of it, as was she, but nowhere near the sort of reaction that would have been appropriate considering the amount she had ballooned in only four months. Jess had spoken to her mother several times a week on the phone and frequently inquired after her sisters health. Their mother would comment saying Jess shouldn't be so jealous, that Sammy was getting a bit softer already. She would sort of laugh it off and the conversation would continue on from there. Any regular mother would be rushing their child to the hospital, but somehow the Crossroads had found a balance between noticing the gain and not noticing the full reality of just how fat Sammy was getting.

The women on the screen came in and out of dressing rooms, and things fit them to varying degrees, but for Jess all she could see was the hippo in the grey shirt. The plumping, glutton her sister was already so far down the road towards becoming.

Looking back at this time, Jess would begin to imagine these days as some of Sammy's thinnest. By the time the sisters were sharing a beach side condo for the fourth of July, Sammy would be half way to her fate, and Jess's worries would begin to evolve. The crossroads were getting hungry.